U.S. Senate candidates engage in second round of attacks

For a full hour Thursday night, Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown and
Republican challenger Josh Mandel continued their feisty fight for Ohio’s U.S.
Senate seat. For the most part, the debate centered on the candidates’
records and personal attacks, with policy specifics spewing out in between.
Apparently, the barrage of attacks is not what the
candidates had in mind before the debate started. Throughout the debate, both
candidates asked for substance, not attacks. At one point, Brown said, “I
appreciate this clash of ideas. That’s what this debate should be about.” At another
point, Mandel said, “We need less attacking, and we need more policy ideas to
put people back to work.”
These comments came well into the debate. By that time, Mandel
had criticized Brown for “Washington speak” so many times that an
exasperated Brown quipped, “I don’t get this. Every answer is about Washington
speak.”
Brown also launched his own attacks, which focused on
Mandel’s dishonesty on the campaign trail, which previously earned Mandel a “Pants
on Fire” crown from Cleveland’s The Plain
Dealer, and Mandel, who is also Ohio’s treasurer, missing state treasurer
meetings to run for political office.
But Ohioans have seen enough of the attacks in the hundreds
of campaign ads that have bombarded the state in the past year. Voters probably
want to hear more about how each candidate will affect them, and the candidates
gave enough details to get some idea of where each of them will go.
On economic issues, Brown established the key difference
between the two candidates’ economic policies: Mandel, like most of his
Republican colleagues, believes in the trickle-down theory. The economic theory
says when the rich grow, they can create jobs by hiring more employees and
expanding businesses. In other words, proponents of the theory believe the
success of the rich “trickles down” to the middle class and poor through more
job opportunities. Belief in this theory is also why most Republicans call the
wealthy “job creators.” Under the trickle-down theory, the wealthy are
deregulated and get tax cuts so it’s easier for them to create jobs.
On the other hand, Brown says he supports a middle-out
approach, which focuses on policies that target the middle class. That is how
sustainable employment and growth are attained, according to Brown. Under the
middle-out approach, tax cuts and spending policies target the middle class,
and the wealthy own a higher tax burden to support government programs.
Some economists, like left-leaning Nobel laureate Paul
Krugman, say the trickle-down theory should have been put to rest with the
financial crisis of 2008. After all, deregulation is now credited with being
the primary cause of 2008’s economic crisis. In that context, more deregulation
seems like a bad idea.
Still, Brown’s contrast to Mandel holds true. Brown has
repeatedly called for higher taxes on the rich. In the debate, he touted his
support for the auto bailout and once again mocked Mandel’s promise to not
raise any taxes. These are policies that do end up benefiting the middle class
more than the wealthy. The auto bailout in particular has been credited with
saving thousands of middle-class jobs.
On the other side, Mandel told debate watchers to go to
his website and then offered some quick talking points: simplify the tax code,
end Wall Street bailouts and use Ohio’s natural gas and oil resources “in a
responsible way.” How Mandel wants to simplify the tax code is the issue. On
his website, Mandel says he supports “a flatter, fairer income tax with only
one or two brackets, eliminating almost all of the credits, exemptions and
loopholes.” A study by five leading economists suggests a flat tax model would
greatly benefit the wealthy and actually hurt the well-being of the middle class
and poor. That matches with the trickle-down economic theory.
Another suggestion on Mandel’s website says, “Help job creators. Reduce
capital gains and corporate taxes, and allow for a small business income
deduction.” The small business portion would help some in the middle class, but
an analysis from The Washington Post
found 80 percent of capital gains incomes benefit 5 percent of Americans and
half of all capital gains have gone to the top 0.1 percent of Americans. So a
capital gains tax cut would, again, match the trickle-down economic theory.
What all this means is on economic issues the choice of
candidates depends mostly on what economic theory a voter believes. Brown
believes in focusing economic policies that target the middle class, while
Mandel mostly supports policies that generally support what he calls “job
creators” — or the wealthy.
On partisanship, both sides once again threw out
different ideas. Although he was asked for three ideas, Brown only gave one:
fix the filibuster. The filibuster is a U.S. Senate procedure that allows 41
out of 100 senators to indefinitely halt any laws. The only way to break the
filibuster is by having a supermajority of 60 senators — a rarity in American
politics. Brown said if this rule was removed, a lot more could get done in
Congress.
Mandel had different ideas for stopping partisan gridlock
in Washington, D.C. He touted his support for No Budget, No Pay, which would require
members of Congress to pass a budget in order to get paid. He also expressed
his support for term limits, saying lifelong politicians only add to the partisanship
in Congress. Then, in a strange twist, Mandel’s last suggestion was to stop
bailouts, which has nothing to do with partisanship or gridlock in Congress.
Then came Obamacare. Brown said he was “proud” of his
vote and continued supporting the law, citing the millions of Americans it will
insure. Meanwhile, Mandel responded to the Obamacare question by saying, “The
federal government takeover of health care is not the answer.”
The fact of the matter is Obamacare is not a “government
takeover of health care.” Far from it. The plan doesn’t even have a public
option that would allow Americans to buy into a public, nonprofit insurance
pool — an idea that actually has majority support in the U.S. Instead,
Obamacare is a series of complicated reforms to the health insurance industry.
There are way too many reforms to list, but the most basic
effect of Obamacare is that more people will be insured. That’s right, in the
supposed “government takeover of health care,” insurance companies actually gain
more customers. That’s the whole point of the individual mandate and the many
subsidies in Obamacare that try to make insurance affordable for all Americans.
Mandel made another misleading claim when he said Obamacare
“stole” from Medicare, with the implication that the cuts hurt seniors
utilizing the program. It is true Obamacare cuts Medicare spending, but the
cuts target waste and payments to hospitals and insurers. It does not directly
cut benefits.
The one area with little disagreement also happened to be
the one area with the most misleading: China. It’s not a new trend
for politicians to attack China. The Asian country has become the scapegoat for
all economic problems in the U.S. But in this election cycle, politicians have
brandished a new line to attack China: currency manipulation. This, as Ohioans
have likely heard dozens of times, is why jobs are leaving Ohio and why the amount of
manufacturing jobs has dropped in the U.S. In fact, if politicians are taken
at their word, it’s probably the entire reason the U.S. economy is in a bad
spot.
In the Brown-Mandel debate, Brown repeatedly pointed to
his currency manipulation bill, which he claims would put an end to Chinese
currency manipulation. Mandel also made references to getting tough on China’s
currency manipulation.
One problem: China is no longer manipulating its currency.
There is no doubt China greatly massaged its currency in the past to gain an
unfair advantage, but those days are over, says Joseph Gagnon, an economist
focused on trade and currency manipulation. Gagnon argues the problem with
currency manipulation is no longer a problem with China; it’s a problem with
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia.
If the U.S. wants to crack down on currency manipulation, those countries
should be the targets, not China, he argues.
In other words, if currency manipulation is a problem,
Mandel was right when he said that countries other than China need to be targeted. To Brown’s credit, his currency manipulation bill targets any country engaging in currency manipulation, not just China. The problem
seems to be the misleading campaign rhetoric, not proposed policy.
The debate went on to cover many more issues. Just like
the first debate, Brown typically took the liberal position and Mandel
typically took the conservative position on social issues like gay rights and
abortion. Both touted vague support for small businesses. Each candidate
claimed to support military bases in Ohio, although Mandel specified he wants
bases in Europe closed down to save money. As far as debates go, the contrast
could not be any clearer, and the candidates disagreed on nearly every issue.
The final debate between the two U.S. Senate candidates
will take place in Cincinnati on Oct. 25.

Claim True the Vote is unnecessarily intimidating voters

Ohio Senate Democrats sent a letter to Ohio Secretary of
State Jon Husted and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine on Wednesday asking them
to investigate True the Vote (TTV), a Tea Party group established to
combat alleged voter fraud. The Democrats claim TTV is unnecessarily
intimidating voters.
In the letter, the Democrats say they would find voter
fraud to be a serious problem if it was happening, but they also note
recent studies have found no evidence of widespread voter impersonation fraud. An Oct. 4
Government Accountability Office study could not document a single case
of voter impersonation fraud. A similar study by News21, a Carnegie-Knight
investigative reporting project, found a total of 10 cases of alleged
in-person voter impersonation since 2000. That’s less than one case a
year.Tim Burke, chairman of both the Hamilton County Board of
Elections and the Hamilton County Democratic Party, says the faulty
voter registration forms, which groups like TTV typically cite as
examples of in-person voter fraud, never amount to real voter fraud.
“Those nonexistent voters never show up to vote,” he says.
“(The forms) were put together by people working on voter registration drives.
Frankly, the intent wasn’t to defraud the board of elections; the
intent was to defraud their employer into making them think they’re
doing more work.”In other words, people aren't submitting faulty voter registration forms to skew elections; registration drive employees are submitting the forms to try to keep their jobs.
To combat the seemingly nonexistent problem of voter
impersonation fraud, TTV is planning on recruiting one million poll
watchers — people that will stand by polling places to ensure the voting
process is legitimate. The Democrats insist some of the tactics
promoted by the group are illegal. The letter claims it’s illegal for
anyone but election officials to inhibit the voting process in any way.
Most notably, Ohio law prohibits “loiter[ing] in or
about a registration or polling place during registration or the casting
and counting of ballots so as to hinder, delay, or interfere with the
conduct of the registration or election,” according to the letter.
Burke says state law allows both Democrats and Republicans
to hire observers at polling booths. However, the observers can only
watch, and they can’t challenge voters. Even if the appointed observers see suspicious
activity, they have to leave the voting area and report the activity
through other means.
The tactics adopted by TTV have an ugly history in the U.S.
Utilizing poll watchers was one way Southern officials pushed away
minority voters during the segregation era. By asking questions and
being as obstructive as possible, the poll watchers of the segregation
era intimidated black voters into not voting. In the post-segregation
era, the tactics have continued targeting minority and low-income
voters.
The Senate Democrats make note of the ugly history in their
letter: “It has traditionally focused on the voter registration lists in
minority and low-income precincts, utilizing ‘caging’ techniques to
question registrations. It has included encouraging poll watchers to
‘raise a challenge’ when certain voters tried to vote by brandishing
cameras at polling sites, asking humiliating questions of voters, and
slowing down precinct lines with unnecessary challenges and intimidating
tactics. These acts of intimidation undermine protection of the right
to vote of all citizens.”
TTV has already faced some failures in Hamilton County.
Earlier this year, the group teamed up with the Ohio Voter Integrity Project (VIP),
another Tea Party group, to file 380 challenges to the Hamilton County
Board of Elections. Of the 380 challenges, only 35 remain. The vast
majority were thrown out.
“For the most part, they tried to get a bunch of UC
students challenged because they didn’t have their dormitory rooms on
their voter registration rolls,” Burke says. “All of those were
rejected. We did nothing with those.”
But he said the group did bring up one legitimate
challenge. Some voters were still registered in a now-defunct trailer
park in Harrison, Ohio. Since the trailer park no longer exists,
Burke says no one should be voting from there. The board didn’t purge
those voters from the roll, but the board unanimously agreed to ensure those voters are challenged and sent to the correct polling place if they show up to vote.
Still, TTV insists on hunting down all the phantom
impersonators and fraudulent voters. In partnership with VIP, TTV is continuing its mission to stop all the voter impersonation that isn't actually happening.
VIP is brandishing the effort with a program of its own. That organization is now hosting special
training programs for poll workers. The organization insists
its programs are nonpartisan, but Democrats aren’t buying it.
Burke says it’s normal for Democrats and Republicans to
hire poll workers, but if the Voter Integrity Project program puts the
organization’s anti-fraud politics into the training, it could go too
far.
“The job of the poll worker is to assist voters in getting
their ballots cast correctly,” Burke says. “It’s to be helpful. It’s
not to be belligerent. It’s not to be making voters feel like they’re
doing something evil.”
He added, “If poll workers are
coming in and deciding that they’re going to be aggressive police
officers making everybody feel like they’re engaged in voter fraud and
therefore trying to intimidate voters, that’s absolutely wrong.”

In-person early voting is underway in Ohio. Find your nearest polling booth here.
In case you missed it, CityBeat is hosting a party
for the final presidential debate at MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine. There
will be live tweeting, and Councilman Chris Seelbach will be on-hand to discuss this year's key issues. Even if you can’t come, make sure to live tweet during the
presidential debate using the hashtag #cbdebate. More info can be found
at the event’s Facebook page.
A new study found redistricting makes
government even more partisan. The Fair Vote study says redistricting
divides government into clear partisan boundaries by eliminating
competitive districts. In Ohio, redistricting is handled by elected
officials, and they typically use the process for political advantage by
redrawing district boundaries to ensure the right demographics for
re-election. Issue 2 attempts to combat this problem. If voters approve
Issue 2, redistricting will be taken out of the hands of elected
officials and placed into the hands of an independent citizens
commission. The Republican-controlled process redrew the First
Congressional District, which includes Cincinnati, by adding Warren
County to the district. Since Warren County typically votes Republican,
this gives an advantage to Republicans in the First Congressional
District. CityBeat previously covered the redistricting reform effort here.
Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown and Republican
challenger Josh Mandel will face off in another debate for Ohio’s seat
in the U.S. Senate today. The two candidates met Monday in a feisty
exchange in which the men argued over their records and policies. Brown and
Mandel will face off at 8 p.m. The debate will be streamed live on
10TV.com and Dispatch.com. Currently, the race is heavily in Brown’s
favor; he is up 5.2 points in aggregate polling.
Cincinnati is moving forward with its bike sharing
program. A new study found the program will attract 105,000 trips in its
first year, and it will eventually expand to 305,000 trips a year. With
the data in hand, Michael Moore, director of the Department of
Transportation and Engineering, justified the program to The Business Courier:
“We want Cincinnatians to be able to incorporate cycling into their
daily routine, and a bike share program will help with that. Bike share
helps introduce citizens to active transportation, it reduces the number
of short auto trips in the urban core, and it promotes sustainable
transportation options.”
Cincinnati’s school-based health centers are showing promise. Two more are scheduled to open next year.Echoing earlier comments by Ohio Secretary of State Jon
Husted, Ohio Senate Republicans are now talking about using the lame
duck session to take up a bill that would set standard early voting
hours and tighten voting requirements. Republicans are promising broad
consensus, but Democrats worry the move could be another Republican ploy
at voter suppression. Republicans defend the law by saying it would
combat voter fraud, but in-person voter fraud isn’t a real issue. A recent study
by the Government Accountability Office found zero examples of in-person
voter fraud in the last 10 years. Another investigation by News21 had
similar results. Republicans have also justified making voting tougher
and shorter by citing racial politics and costs.
A Hamilton County judge’s directive is causing trouble. Judge Tracie Hunter sent out a directive to
hire a second court administrator because she believes the current
county administrator is only working for the other juvenile judge. The
county government is trying to figure out if Hunter has the authority to hire a new
administrator.
This year’s school report card data held up a long-term
trend: Public schools did better than charter schools. In Ohio, the
average charter school meets slightly more than 30 percent of the
state’s indicators, while the average traditional public school meets 78
percent of the state’s indicators, according to findings from the
education policy fellow at left-leaning Innovation Ohio. The data for
all Ohio schools can be found here.
Some in the fracking industry are already feeling a bit of
a bust. The gas drilling business is seeing demand rapidly drop, and
that means $1 billion lost in profits. CityBeat wrote in-depth about the potential fracking bust here.
Ohio student loan debt is piling up. A report by Project
on Student Debt says Ohio has the seventh-highest student loan debt in
the nation with an average of $28,683 in 2011. That number is a 3.5
percent increase from 2010.
What if Abraham Lincoln ran for president today?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind could soon be reality. Scientists are developing a drug that removes bad memories during sleep.

In-person early voting is underway in Ohio. Find your nearest polling booth here.
The second presidential debate between President Barack
Obama and Mitt Romney took place last night. The general consensus from the
media is Obama won. Although the victory will likely inspire an Obama
comeback narrative for some political pundits, keep in mind political
scientists say debates typically have little electoral impact. But
debates can reveal substance, and The Washington Post has an
article “footnoting” the policy specifics from the debate. As of today,
aggregate polling shows Obama up in Ohio by 2.2 points and Romney up
nationally by 0.4 points. Ohio is widely considered a must-win for
Romney. Obama and Romney will have their final debate next Monday. CityBeat will be hosting an event at MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine during the debate. More info can be found on the event’s Facebook page.
The Ohio Department of Education released its remaining
school report card data today. The data is meant to give Ohioans a clear
picture as to whether schools are improving. The data was delayed due
to an ongoing investigation into attendance rigging at Ohio schools. In
the new report card data, Cincinnati Public Schools was downgraded from
“Effective” in the 2010-2011 school year to “Continuous Improvement” in
the 2011-2012 school year. The new mark is still positive, but it is a
downgrade.
Down goes Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s early
voting appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. With the Supreme Court refusing
to take up Husted’s appeal, Ohio must allow all voters to vote on the
weekend and Monday before Election Day. Husted also sent out a directive
enforcing uniform voting hours for the three days. On Saturday, booths will be open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. On Monday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
It seems City Council action was not enough to get Duke
Energy to budge on the streetcar. The local energy company says it wants
an operating agreement before it starts construction work. On Sept. 24,
City Council passed a funding deal that shifted $15 million from the
Blue Ash airport deal to the streetcar and established $14 million
through a new financing plan. The city says it will get the $15
million back if it wins in the dispute with Duke. The city claims it’s
Duke’s responsibility to pay for moving utility pipes and lines to
accommodate for the streetcar, but Duke insists it’s the city’s
responsibility.
The University Board of Trustees is expected to approve
Santa Ono as UC’s new president. Ono has been serving as interim
president ever since Greg Williams abruptly resigned, citing personal
reasons.
The Horseshoe Casino is really coming along. Casino owners are already booking meetings and events for spring 2013.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital announced a big
breakthrough in combating muscular dystrophy. The hospital claims it
successfully installed a device in a patient with Duchenne muscular
dystrophy that allows the patient’s heart to pump blood to the body in
the long term.
With Gov. John Kasich's recommendation, Ohio universities
will have cheaper, quicker options for students. A new provision will
require 10 percent of bachelor’s degrees from public universities to be
completable in three years instead of four.
Ohio’s attorney general wants help in solving an unsolved
double homicide in Cincinnati. Attorney General Mike DeWine has recently
fixated on cold cases — previously unsolved cases that could be solved
with new information and tools. Scientists found an earth-sized planet orbiting the star nearest to our solar system.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 16
declined to take up Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s early voting
appeal, meaning Ohio must allow all voters to vote on the weekend and
Monday before Election Day — a right previously reserved for military
personnel and their families. The decision came slightly more than seven
weeks after the initial Aug. 31 decision by a lower court that extended
the three voting days to all Ohioans.

A Cincinnati-area state representative is decrying billboards throughout Ohio whose aim, she says, is voter intimidation.
Democratic Rep. Alicia Reece held a news conference Oct. 15 in front of a billboard that read, “Voter Fraud is a Felony!”

Voting on weekend and Monday before Election Day must include all Ohioans

The U.S. Supreme Court says it will not take up Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted's early voting appeal. With the decision, Ohio must allow all voters to vote on the weekend and Monday before Election Day — a right previously reserved for military personnel and their families.The news comes just a week after Husted promised to appeal a ruling from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which said if early voting will take place on the three days before Election Day, boards of elections must make sure all Ohioans can use the opportunity.However, some ambiguity is left in the process as different county boards of elections decide on voting hours. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals said it's up to Husted and individual county boards when and even if Ohioans will vote on the three days. If there is a tie vote in the county boards, Husted will be the tie breaker.When he announced his intention to appeal the appeals court ruling, Husted said in a statement that he will ensure Ohio has uniform early voting rules and hours no matter the outcome of the appeal: “While I will be asking the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Ohio law
through the appeals process, the last thing I want to see is a
non-uniform system where voters will be treated differently in all 88
counties. Since some boards of elections have already started to take action on
hours of operation for the three days before Election Day, I am going
to take time to consult with all 88 counties before crafting a
directive to set uniform hours should the state not be successful upon
appeal.”UPDATE (1:30 P.M.): Husted sent out a directive to county boards of elections enforcing uniform voting hours for the three days before Election Day. On Saturday, booths will be open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. On Monday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In-person early voting is underway in Ohio. Find your nearest polling booth here.
State Rep. Alicia Reece, a Democrat, is not happy with
what she sees as another attempt at voter suppression. Reece claims a
new billboard, which reads “Voter Fraud is a Felony,” is meant to
intimidate voters — particularly voters in low-income and black
neighborhoods. The company hosting the billboards says there are 30
billboards like it in Greater Cincinnati and the sponsor of the
billboards, who chose to remain anonymous, did not ask to target any
specific demographic.
The second presidential debate is tonight at 9 p.m. All
eyes are on President Barack Obama to deliver a better performance than
he did in the last debate against Mitt Romney. The media was quick to
jump on the post-debate bounce in polls Romney experienced a mere week
after the debate, but political scientists say debates typically don’t have much political significance
in the long term. Still, the debate will be a good opportunity for
Obama and Romney to flesh out their positions and show their abilities to reach out to the public. The full schedule of the remaining debates
can be found here. The agreed-upon rules to the debates were leaked
yesterday. One notable rule says the candidates may not ask each other
any direct questions during any of the debates. Both the Romney and Obama campaigns made a fuss about tonight's debate moderator possibly asking follow-up questions.
But the debate isn’t the only important presidential test
this week. While in Youngstown, Paul Ryan, Republican vice presidential
nominee, tried to show he can pass the dish washing test, but little did
he know that savvy media outlets were ready to call him out on his
dishonesty. Brian Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De
Paul Society, said Ryan was only at the group’s soup kitchen for the
picture and didn’t do much work. The visit apparently angered Antal, who
said his charity group is supposed to be nonpartisan. The race for Ohio’s U.S. Senate seat saw its first of
three debates yesterday. At the debate, Democratic incumbent Sherrod
Brown and Republican challenger Josh Mandel agreed on very little, and
they did not have many kind words for each other. Mandel criticized
Brown for the auto bailout, liberal economic policies and inability to
get a budget through the Senate. Brown criticized Mandel for alleged
cronyism in the state treasurer’s office, dishonesty on the campaign
trail and support for trickle-down economics. The next debate is in
Columbus on Thursday, and the two men will face off one last time in
Cincinnati on Oct. 25.Ohio is still weighing options regarding a Medicaid
expansion. Critics of the expansion are worried the expansion would cost
the state too much money. However, previous research shows Medicaid
expansions can actually save states money by lowering the amount of
uncompensated care. Medicaid expansions in other states also notably
improved lives.
One analyst says Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble will see stronger growth in the future.
A controversial ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court is
sparking some local debate. The ruling said juveniles are not entitled
to an attorney during police interrogations preceding a charge or
initial appearance at juvenile court. Under state law, juveniles are
allowed to have attorneys during “proceedings,” and the Ohio Supreme
Court interpreted “proceedings” to mean “court proceedings.”
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced 6,665
new entities filed to do business in Ohio in September. The number is up
from September 2011, when 6,143 new entities filed to do business; but
it’s down from August 2012, when 7,341 entities asked to do business in
Ohio. The numbers show a steady economic recovery.
The Ohio Turnpike may get a few changes soon. A new Ohio
Department of Transportation (ODOT) study shows a few options for Gov.
John Kasich’s administration: lease the turnpike, give it over to ODOT
or leave it alone. If the turnpike is leased or handed over to ODOT,
tolls will likely rise to keep up with inflation and two maintenance facilities will shut down. However, the revenue generated could be used
for new transportation projects — a goal for the Kasich administration.
Kasich is set to make his decision in about a month.
In other Ohio Turnpike news, Turnpike Director Rick Hodges
announced turnpike tow truck companies will soon be paid less but
allowed to charge customers more.
Scientists want to measure human consciousness. The technology could gauge whether vegetative patients retain any awareness.

In-person early voting is underway in Ohio. Find your nearest polling booth here.
The vice presidential debate between Democratic Vice
President Joe Biden and Republican U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan took place last night.
The general consensus among pundits is the debate was a draw, with perhaps Biden edging out ahead.
Regardless of who won, political scientists say debates have
little-to-no electoral impact in the long term, especially vice
presidential debates.
Mitt Romney made a bit of a flub yesterday. He told The Columbus Dispatch,
“We don’t have a setting across this country where if you don’t have
insurance, we just say to you, ‘Tough luck, you’re going to die when you
have your heart attack.’” However, that’s not completely accurate.
Research shows the uninsured are a lot more likely to die from a heart
attack, mostly because they get substantially less preventive health
care.
PolitiFact Ohio says Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted is
wrong about Issue 2. Specifically, Husted said if a member of the
independent commission was bribed, the member could not be kicked out of
office. PolitiFact says the claim is false because methods for removing
unelected officials from office exist outside of the redistricting
amendment. If Issue 2 passed, redistricting would be handled by an
independent citizens commission. Currently, elected officials redraw
district boundaries, but they often use the process for political
advantage. The Republican majority redrew the First Congressional
District, which includes Cincinnati, to include Warren County, giving
Republicans an advantage by giving them more rural voters that are more
likely to vote for them.
But Husted did have some good news yesterday. A federal
appeals court judge upheld a decision requiring election officials to
count provisional ballots that were brought about due to poll worker
mistakes. Husted didn’t much care for that part of the ruling. However,
the judge also said a legal signature must be required on every provisional ballot,
overturning that part of the previous decision. A very small win, but
Husted seemed happy in a statement: “I am extremely pleased that the Court of Appeals
agreed with me that we must have a valid, legal signature on all
provisional ballots.”
The mayor and Cincinnati Public Schools announced a new
joint effort that won a $40,000 grant yesterday. The effort will go to
50 tutors, who will help 100 students meet the state’s new Third Grade
Reading Guarantee.However, a loophole in the Third Grade Reading Guarantee may allow third-graders to skip tests to move onto the fourth grade.
Out of 12 similar regions, Cincinnati ranks No. 10 on 15
indicators including jobs, cost of living and population. Cincinnati did
fairly well in terms of just jobs, though; the city was No. 6 in that
category. The ranks come from Vision 2015 and Agenda 360.
With the support of Gov. John Kasich, Ohio is trying to do
more with university research. The theme of the push is to build
stronger links between universities and the private sector to boost
stronger, entrepreneurial research.
Josh Mandel, state treasurer and Ohio’s Republican
candidate for the U.S. Senate, is in trouble again for not answering
questions. A testy exchange on live radio started when Ron Ponder, the
host, asked Mandel about potential cronyism in the treasurer’s office,
and Mandel replied by implying Ponder is with the Brown campaign. Ponder
got so fed up he eventually ended the exchange by saying, “Hang up on
this dude, man.”Does eating more chocolate earn a nation more Nobel prizes? Science says no. I say yes.

In-person early voting is underway in Ohio. Find your
nearest polling booth here. More than 1.1 million Ohioans have requested
absentee ballots.
Secretary of State Jon Husted appealed an early voting
ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The ruling by the appeals court said
all Ohioans must be allowed to vote on the three days before Election
Day. Previously, only military personnel and their families were
allowed. The appeals court ruling also passed the final decision on
whether voting should be allowed during those three days to the county
boards of elections and Husted.
Husted also sent out a directive Thursday telling board of
elections employees that they can only notify absentee voters about
mistakes on their ballots through first-class mail. Previously, email
and phone notifications were allowed.
Rev. Jesse Jackson was in Cincinnati yesterday in part to
criticize Husted and other Republicans. Jackson accused Ohio’s state
government of engaging in voter suppression. The reverend’s claims have
some merit. In moments of perhaps too much honesty, Republican aides
have cited racial politics as a reason for opposing the expansion of
in-person early voting. In an email to The Columbus Dispatch published
on Aug. 19, Doug Preisse, close adviser to Gov. John Kasich, said, “I
guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to
accommodate the urban — read African-American — voter-turnout machine.”In a new video, Josh Mandel, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate,
dodged answering a question about whether he would support
the auto bailout for five straight minutes.
More preliminary data for Ohio’s schools and school
districts will be released next week. The data gives insight
into how Ohio’s education system is holding up.
The Ohio Board of Education also promised to pursue the
state auditor’s recommendation of making the student information
database in-house, which Auditor Dave Yost says could save $430,000 a
year.
“We are holding our own feet to the fire,” promised Bob
McDonald, CEO of Procter & Gamble, at P&G’s annual meeting. The
Cincinnati-based company had a rocky year, and the harsh questions
at the meeting reflected the troubles. McDonald promises he has a plan
for growth.
In response to last week’s Taser report, local police departments haven’t done much.
President Barack Obama and opponent Mitt Romney were in
Ohio yesterday. Obama drew significant crowds at Ohio State University,
while Romney drew a new chant of “four more weeks.” Ohio is considered a must-win for Romney, but Obama is currently up by 0.8 points in the state.
A new report from the left-leaning Urban Institute says
Obamacare will lower health care costs for small businesses and have
minimal impact on large businesses. But another report says Obamacare
will raise costs for mid-size businesses. A new ad shows that the presidential election has probably jumped the shark: